


Halloween Party

by Burgie



Series: WillowxAlex AU [1]
Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/F, F/M, Halloween, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 16:28:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16643696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Louisa holds a Halloween party for her friends. Daine belongs to HellishSam, Viktor belongs to sso_viktor7, Eden belongs to ZealousDawn, Roo belongs to fieldingfreja, Jay and Izzy belong to SpaceUnicornDot, Ali belongs to sso-aliarchdotter, Ariana belongs to inappropriatestarstable, and Bambi belongs to EquineDork.





	Halloween Party

Willow stood in front of her bathroom sink after returning home from the chaos in Dundull. Various makeup implements were scattered on the counter in front of her, foundation and black eyeshadow and black eyeliner pencil. There was also a small container holding pure white contact lenses to give her the spooky 'corpse bride' look that she was going for. She'd showered to rid herself of the mud and plant matter that she'd accumulated in destroying Skoll's front yard, and her light grey-purple hair was now fluffing up as it dried around her shoulders. She was temporarily clad in a white singlet top with spaghetti straps and a pair of long, loose grey pants that she sometimes slept in. She'd already removed her piercings, not wanting to get makeup in them. And, just quietly, so that she could eat peanut butter cookies or those delicious chocolate spiders quickly without having to worry about her piercings. Willow pulled on a headband to keep her hair out of her face, then picked up her foundation powder and foundation brush to begin.

The powder in the air made Willow sneeze, and she opened her eyes to look at herself in the mirror once she was done with the foundation. The stark whiteness of the powder only made her eyes look greener, the Pandorian scar splitting through her right eyebrow far more prominent now. Even though she wasn't out in the wilderness. The sight would have brought Willow great distress, once. But now, she'd accepted it as part of her. Besides, this first scar was nothing compared to the more recent ones on her thighs. At least her friends already knew about the one on her face, the foundation clearly wasn't doing anything to hide it.

Leaning forward, Willow set down the foundation and brush and picked up the black eyeshadow and the smaller brush for it. On second thoughts, she set it back down and picked up the eyeliner, carefully drawing circles around her eyes so that she knew where to put the eyeshadow. That done, Willow began to fill in the circles. This part was easy. The final part was her lips, which she coloured black with lipliner before drawing vertical lines through them, spreading them onto her cheeks in a ghastly grin. Willow almost scared herself when she caught a glimpse of the finished product in the mirror, but then she laughed. Well, she was definitely checking the 'spooky' box with this makeup. And she hadn't even put her dress on yet.

Before she could go and get her dress, though, Willow cleared away the makeup things, putting them back in the white drawers of the bathroom vanity. She grabbed her white contact lenses and then left, glad that she could step into her dress.

Across the island, on a distant windswept peninsula where wild horses roamed, in a large house by the sea, a man stood in front of his bathroom mirror, eyes glowing purple as he glared at himself.

"No," said Daine, concentrating and ignoring the pain as his ears, eyes, teeth, and fingers returned to normal. He closed his eyes, concentrating, and tried again. The damn cat ears reappeared. "Stop it!" The next time, in addition to the normal changes, he felt his horns grow. Daine graoned in frustration, sliding his large hand down his face. He was never going to be able to complete his costume at this rate. He knew one surefire way to get the fangs and claws to come out, but he wasn't about to swing by for a booty call or- and there it was, Daine's teeth turned into fangs and his fingernails turned into claws without his eyes or ears changing. Perfect, now he just had to hold this all night. This would be fine.

Down the slightly-curving road, slightly closer to New Hillcrest, a woman stood in front of her bedroom mirror, trying to decide if she should put the coloured contacts in or not. It would fit her costume, but she wasn't sure how they'd go with her glasses over them. She was also trying to decide if she should tie a black ribbon around the cat ears. There were so many Balke outfits to choose from. She could hear Lisa moving about in the bathroom, probably struggling with the wig or with the facepaint that she was using to create Ilia's spots. Louisa felt a little guilty that she had the easier costume here, but it would be fine. She'd already put Blake's outfit on, a black midriff-baring top with strips of fabric crisscrossed over her cleavage leading up to her neck, where black fabric wrapped around it. Over this was a long-sleeved white coat with purple lapels that fell to the ground and split at her waist. Beneath this were long black pants and a white belt, as well as long purple boots that reached above her knees to midthigh. Just privately, Louisa had never felt sexier in her life. She bit her lower lip as she straightened her long, thick black wig, adjusted the fringe properly, and slipped on the black cat ear headband over the top of her wig.

"Babe, you do- woah," said Lisa, her green eyes widening with surprise as she caught sight of her fiancee.

"How do I look?" Louisa asked, fighting the urge to play with her hair. She'd mess up her wig if she did.

"Girl world Halloween, indeed," said Lisa, her voice low. Louisa only had a moment to admire Lisa in Ilia's outfit, very glad that she'd convinced her girlfriend to use Ilia's White Fang outfit. Lisa definitely had the body for Ilia's dark stealth suit, showing off her legs and arms before zipping up to her throat. She'd done a good job of applying the darker spots on her cheeks, knees, and shoulders, too, Louisa noticed. And then Lisa was kissing her, pulling Louisa close to her.

"I feel naked," said Louisa, her cheeks warming in a blush.

"You're wearing more clothes than me," said Lisa, laughing. "But you do look very sexy." She took Louisa's hands in her own and kissed her again gently.

"So do you," said Louisa. She couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from how much skin Lisa was showing off. Maybe she should have insisted on Lisa wearing Ilia's current outfit, it was much less revealing. "Oh, what do you think, contacts or no?"

"Hmm," Lisa hummed thoughtfully, touching her hand to her chin. "The yellow eyes kind of make Blake, don't they?"

"Yeah," said Louisa. "I'm just worried about my glasses."

"Well, if they start to hurt, take them out," said Lisa. "How do I look? Apart from very sexy, I can see that by the way you're internally combusting."

"U-um," Louisa stammered, her face burning. She looked at Lisa properly this time, not just noticing her legs or how skintight that stealth suit was. "You look perfect." Lisa had even styled the brown wig properly with the curl at the end of the ponytail, a single lock of hair hanging down in the middle of her forehead. Louisa wasn't sure if it was Lisa's, though. It looked cute, whoever it belonged to.

"Contacts?" Lisa asked.

"Yes," said Louisa, nodding. "Just be careful with them."

"You too if you decide to go with it," said Lisa. She gave Louisa a peck on the cheek before vanishing back into the bathroom.

In another bathroom, a little closer to South Hoof (or at least still in the vicinity of the Harvest Counties), a young man tried not to feel too flustered as he stretched out his wings in front of his bathroom mirror. He'd definitely feel naked, going outside without binding and hiding his wings beneath a jacket or sweatshirt. But Viktor couldn't help but admire his wings, a gorgeous lighter grey on the underside (the side that he could currently see) with slightly darker grey dappling. He knew that he wouldn't look exactly like a typical angel, but he wasn't about to paint or powder them white. That would be more uncomfortable than even keeping them out and stiff for this long. But hopefully people wouldn't be too annoyed by the darker grey feathers and black wingtips that they'd usually be seeing. He had a white toga to go with it, matching the 'angel' look, and a golden halo that he'd wear as a headband.

"You can do this, Vik," said Viktor as he looked at himself, trying very hard to keep his wings still. They sat where they usually would when resting, only opened slightly instead of folded neatly behind his back. Willow and Louisa already knew about his wings, so they wouldn't touch them, but he knew that everyone else wouldn't know and would want to touch them. Maybe this had been a huge mistake, but he could always leave early. Or just hide in the kitchen, as he suspected his best friend would be doing despite being the one hosting this event.

The first guest to arrive was Eden, who'd been able to dress quickly due to already having the outfit. Louisa almost fell over when she opened the door and saw Cinder standing there.

"Hey, Louisa," said Eden, breaking Louisa out of her trance.

"My gay heart," said Louisa, her hand on her chest. She could feel her heart thumping beneath her hand.

"She did the same thing when I showed up," said Lisa, her arm around her fiancee’s waist. She kissed Louisa's blushing cheek.

"Why does this show have such revealing outfits?" Alonso muttered, touching the lip of his black bowler hat. Louisa wondered who had done his eyeliner, the black 'lashes' beneath his left eye looked perfect. As did the swoop of his red hair over his right eye. But with his grey bandana, long white coat with black pinstripes and gold buttons, black gloves and black pants with brown boots, Alonso was the most-dressed one here. Eden had opted for Cinder's low-cut floor-length red dress with gold detailing and long sleeves that wrapped around each middle finger, as well as dark glass high heels.

"I don't know but I love it," said Louisa, tearing her eyes away from Eden's outfit at last. She stepped out of the doorway. "Come in."

"Don't mind if I do," said Eden, looking around as she walked inside of the house. It was past sunset, so the house lights glowed warmly. Alonso nodded, smiling in appreciation at the decorations.

"Wow, you did a pretty good job," said Alonso as he looked around.

"Thanks," said Louisa, blushing again at the compliment. She tried very hard not to look at Eden for too long, telling herself that she was just checking to see if Eden had Cinder's tattoo (she did).

"Willow and Vik helped her," said Lisa. "I would've helped too but I was at a Soul Rider meeting."

"It's getting close, isn't it?" said Eden.

"Yep," said Lisa, nodding. "But no work talk tonight, tonight is all about fun."

"Let's set the food out and turn the spooky tunes on and get spooky," said Louisa, grinning as she headed into the kitchen with Lisa, Eden, and Alonso following behind her. Tonight was going to be great, she could just feel it. And if it was chaotic? Well, she'd found that when friends were involved, chaos was inevitable.

With the help of Eden and Alonso, Louisa soon had spooky Halloween music playing through the house, as well as some electric candles flickering with orange light. She didn’t trust real candles, not with the guest list. That and she was worried about someone’s costume getting snagged on a candle and starting a house fire. Roo would be here to help put it out, and Viktor, too, but Louisa would prefer to avoid that situation entirely.

“Damn, these look good,” said Eden, picking up a frosted cookie. She bit into it, smiling at the taste. “Wow, you’re a good cook.”

“Tell Vik that too when he gets here,” said Louisa. “He helped me cook them.”

“I’ll remember to do that,” said Eden. Alonso picked up a cookie too, humming appreciatively at the taste.

“Give us the recipe,” said Alonso. Eden nudged him.

“Please,” said Eden, smiling on behalf of her boyfriend.

“Oh yeah, please,” said Alonso. “Wait, you said Vik, is he… coming tonight?”

“Yes, he’s my best friend, of course he is,” said Louisa.

“Oh,” said Alonso, casting his eyes downwards as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Great…”

“Please don’t ruin this night for us,” said Eden, turning to her boyfriend and looking at him with her violet eyes, made golden by her contact lenses. They almost looked like Daine’s and that explained a lot, actually.

“I won’t,” said Alonso, running his fingers through Eden’s black hair. She’d put in extensions for her costume, which Louisa thought looked great.

“Good,” said Eden, pressing a kiss to his lips.

“He’ll be the guy in an angel costume with hawk wings,” said Louisa. “Just so you know.”

“Thanks for the heads-up,” said Alonso. “I’ll keep an eye out for him but I won’t go out of my way to speak to him.”

“Thank you,” said Louisa. A party wouldn’t be a party if a friend had a breakdown in the bathroom or kitchen. Maybe it would be part of a high school party, but not her party.

A knock at the door thankfully defused the tension, and Louisa gave a squeal of delight and almost skipped to the door. Lisa followed, snagging a cookie off of a tray on the dining room table (decorated with an orange plastic tablecloth covered in pumpkins, bats, ghosts, and skeletons) as she went.

Louisa opened the door to find a vampire. A very tall, muscular, deeply tanned vampire with his shoulder-length curly hair tamed for once. Louisa really hoped that she wasn’t externally screaming like a kettle, but she knew for a fact that her face was as red as Daine’s fancy burgundy suit, buttoned with shiny gold buttons. He even had a white cravat, probably borrowed from his boyfriend, with a red gem set into the collar of his suit.

“Is this going to be a trend of making my fiancee almost faint at the door?” Lisa asked, grinning at the flustered look on her fiancee’s face.

“What?” Daine asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.

“Nothing,” said Louisa, her voice a little high-pitched as she elbowed her fiancee in the ribs. “Come in.”

As Daine walked inside, Louisa turned to give Lisa a meaningful look. Lisa was grinning from ear to ear, though, her green eyes sparkling with mirth.

“Not funny,” said Louisa.

“Very funny,” Lisa countered. “You look like a blushing schoolgirl around him.”

“Shut up,” said Louisa, her cheeks burning. She was about to close the door, but then another vampire showed up, this one significantly less panic-inducing. Like Daine, his blond hair was slicked to his skull with gel, only unlike Daine, his hair was straight until it curled slightly at the tips just above the high collar of his black suit. The suit was unbuttoned, though, revealing a white button-up shirt underneath. He looked quite nice, fake fangs and fake blood coming from the corner of his mouth completing his look. His face was also powdered white, his black pants immaculate, and his black boots shiny.

“Oh, hi, Jay,” said Lisa. He was a new addition to the friend group, though he always seemed a little odd around any mention of Ydris.

“Jay, hi,” said Louisa. “Come in, a few people have already arrived but you’re pretty early.”

“Go steal the cookies from Daine,” said Lisa.

“Okay,” said Jay with a laugh. “Thanks for inviting me.”

“It’s an open invitation,” said Louisa. “Everyone’s invited and I just have to hope that this doesn’t backfire.”

“Everyone?” Jay asked, tilting his head to one side. “Does that include partners?”

“Well, mine’s here, so yeah,” said Louisa. “I hope that’s okay.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” said Jay. “I just might have to avoid a certain someone.”

“Oh dear,” said Louisa quitely, turning to her fiancee as Jay walked past. “I really hope my open invitation doesn’t backfire.”

“Like he said, it’ll be fine, babe,” said Lisa, kissing Louisa’s forehead. “Relax.”

“I hope you’re right,” said Louisa.

Fortunately, Izzy, another member of the friend group, soon arrived, her brown hair dyed gold and her whole body spraypainted gold. She was even wearing a long golden dress, shimmering in a style similar to that worn by the statue of Aideen in Aideen’s Plaza.

“I’m a trophy wife,” said Izzy.

“Nice,” said Lisa, nodding. She looked confused at Louisa’s laughter, but Louisa only smiled at her.

“I’ll tell you later,” said Louisa. “Come on in, Izzy.”

Gradually, a few more friends trickled in, Ali (still a witch) followed by Roo (a pirate), Linda (a werewolf, complete with grey wolf tail and wolf ears and fake claws), Ariana as a slutty nun (neither Lisa nor Louisa were surprised), and, surprisingly, Rania.

“Rania?” said Louisa, surprise clear in her voice. She immediately began to panic, was the house okay for the blind, were there things in the way, would there be any hazards for Rania?

“Oh, you’re a cat girl, too?” Lisa asked, jumping to her fiancee’s rescue. “Louisa’s dressed as a cat girl from a show she likes, she’s got black cat ears on.”

“Oh, ha ha,” said Rania, her laugh musical. Louisa could see what Ariana saw in her, now. “No, I’m not a cat girl. Have you ever heard of the warrior cats series by Erin Hunter?”

“Yes,” said Louisa, her eyes wide behind her glasses. “You’ve read it too?”

“Yeah,” said Rania, grinning. “Does that make it easier for you to guess my costume?”

“Jayfeather,” said Louisa. “The blind medicine cat of ThunderClan.”

“You’ve got it!” said Rania, holding her cane high like a staff. It even looked like a staff, having a wooden exterior littered with what she at first thought were rune markings.

“Is your cane his stick?” Louisa asked.

“Yep!” said Rania, grinning and nodding. “How are my eyes, do they look spooky?”

“They’re a solid blue,” said Louisa. “Yeah, they’re spooky.”

“Perfect,” said Rania. She brought her cane back down to the ground. “Now for the fun of finding my way around a new house, but don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” She winked, and Lisa and Louisa moved out of her way. At least everyone here knew Rania, even if she did look different dressed in a grey onesie.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say that’s a fursuit,” Lisa murmured in her fiancee’s ear. Louisa nodded. The grey fur did look very detailed on the onesie.

“Who’s wearing a fursuit?” Louisa could have squealed in delight at the voice, skipping outside to embrace her friend.

“Vik!” said Louisa, grinning at her freckled friend. “Hi!”

“Watch the wings,” said Viktor, chuckling as Louisa hugged him tightly. “Geeze, that looks indecent.”

“I swear I watch it for the storyline,” said Louisa. Viktor laughed at her, but in a friendly way. “If you think this is indecent, you should see Lisa.”

“Yeah, I can see her,” said Viktor, looking behind his best friend to her fiancee.

“Hey,” said Lisa, giving him a small wave. Things were a little awkward between the two, thanks in large part to Lisa’s comment about losing someone.

“Hi,” said Viktor. He could be civil for the sake of his best friend, which Louisa was glad for.

“Oh, and before you go inside, I just thought you should know that Alonso’s here,” said Louisa, biting her bottom lip as she twisted her fingers together. Guilt washed through her like stomach acid, but to her relief, Viktor only shrugged.

“It’s okay,” said Viktor. “I guess I can’t avoid him forever.”

“He’s in the costume with a bowler hat,” said Louisa, knowing that Viktor probably wouldn’t know what show she was talking about if she said who Alonso was dressed as.

“Thanks for the head’s up anyway,” said Viktor. He smiled as he gave his friend another hug. “I’ll keep an eye out for him.”

“Feel free to hide in my bedroom whenever,” said Louisa. “You’re the only one allowed to. Officially. Here.” She dug in the pocket of her white coat and handed Viktor a small silver key, shaped like an old-fashioned key with two teeth rather than many.

“Wow, thanks,” said Viktor, grinning at her.

“Hey, what are friends for?” said Louisa, giving him a friendly smile despite the nerves that were now digging their claws in. Viktor saw right through her, though, and gave her another hug, wrapping his wings around her lightly.

“It’ll be okay,” said Viktor as Louisa returned his hug just as tightly.

“I really hope so, Vik,” said Louisa. “I’ve just never done anything like this before.”

“Consider it practice for your wedding,” said Viktor. Louisa’s eyes widened, colour draining from her face for a moment. “Breathe, Louisa.” He moved his wings back behind himself, in the correct position for his costume.

“You’re right,” said Louisa. She took a few deep breaths so that she wouldn’t hyperventilate, feeling her pulse trying to beat out of her chest. “I’ll be fine, this is just a party.”

“Exactly,” said Viktor. “Just a party.” Louisa nodded, breathing in deep lungfuls of the salty South Hoof air. Here, it always smelled like the beach, laced with the pleasant scents of heather and horses.

“Okay,” said Louisa. “I think I’ll be okay.”

“You can go hide in your room whenever you want,” said Viktor. Louisa smirked, amused at having her words used against her.

“I know,” said Louisa. “I might just do that before the night’s out.”

“I won’t hold it against you,” said Viktor. “See you inside?”

“Yep, I’m just greeting people right now,” said Louisa. “Then I’ll rest for a bit and… let the shenanigans begin.”

Louisa watched her friend go inside before leaning against the doorframe, willing the house to hold her upright. This was going to be a long night.

The next to arrive was Bambi, dressed as a simple stable boy with her blonde curls tied back in a low bun underneath a grey newsboy cap. She wore a grey sweater over the top of dark blue jeans, dark brown ankle boots completing the look. She’d even gone sans makeup for once, though her purple eyes were still as beautiful as ever.

“Hi, Louisa,” said Bambi, waving to Louisa on her way past. She passed through the front door and was immediately greeted by her other friends. Louisa was a little concerned, though, that Willow hadn’t shown up yet. Did her friend just not want to come? She’d seemed so excited before. Maybe the peanuts had had a bad effect of her, worse than before, maybe she didn’t feel comfortable being around so many people, maybe she’d had a really bad panic attack and was now recovering. But Louisa had left her phone inside, not wanting it to distract her from the party host duties.

But then, Louisa heard hoofbeats on the cobblestone road. She saw a light first, flames flickering about the horse’s hooves from a magical powder that a few shops in Jorvik sold at this time of year. Louisa saw the horse next, a dapple grey connemara mare who she recognised instantly. The figure atop the horse looked a little spooky, though, and from more than just her glowing pink scar. It only glowed faintly normally, but the night was growing dark. Louisa saw the tattered wedding dress next, followed by the smiling face of her friend.

“Willow,” said Louisa, relief rushing through her. “You look fantastic! Just like the corpse bride from Beetlejuice. Well, after the exorcism, anyway.”

“Never heard of that movie,” said Willow, dismounting Rebel and leaving her to graze with the other horses. Dellingr nickered to her, pricking his ears up, while Star, Jay’s horse, gave her a friendly look. He had a set of bat wings on his back, fake ones, though. Viktor was the only one here with a ‘real’ part for his costume. Well, him and Daine, Louisa guessed. Not that she was about to ask Daine, he’d only end up unintentionally flustering her further.

“It’s great, we should watch it when we have time,” said Louisa. “Have a movie night tomorrow night while we’re all recovering from all of this socialisation.”

“Good idea,” said Willow, nodding. Louisa couldn’t seem to stop looking at her creepy white eyes. The contacts did a great job of selling the look of a ghostly corpse with solid white eyes. Willow noticed Louisa’s darting gaze and smiled. “What do you think of my eyes?”

“Very spooky,” said Louisa.

“Thanks,” said Willow, grinning. “I was torn between black or white, but-“

“Black is more for demons,” said Louisa. “Not corpses.”

“My thoughts exactly,” said Willow. “Think I can scare someone?”

“Go ahead,” said Louisa. “A lot of people are here already. Is Alex coming?”

“Yeah, she’ll just be a bit late,” said Willow. “Busy with some last minute preparations. And she said she wants to make an entrance.”

“Ah,” said Louisa, nodding, “I see.”

“She’s not a corpse groom, though,” said Willow. “She had a better idea. But you’ll see.” She looked very excited, which Louisa was glad to see.

“Can’t wait to see it,” said Louisa. After Willow gave one last pet to Rebel, rubbing her soft nose, she walked inside, Louisa watching her go with a smile. She heard a scream, though, followed by laughter coming from her currently-ghoulish friend. Louisa had no idea what was going on inside, but she was at least happy to hear that Willow seemed happy.

Inside, the man who had screamed was still slowly backing away from his friend. Daine’s eyes were wide, pupils almost like slits in his fear.

“Oh, come on, Daine, it’s not that scary,” said Willow, laughing.

“The last thing a gay man wants to see- a bride,” said Daine with a shudder. Ariana laughed, swinging her arm up over Willow’s shoulders as she came up on Willow’s left.

“Aww, what’s the matter, Daine, scared of commitment?” Ariana teased, winking at him. Her brown eyes glimmered with mirth.

“Hey, you’re scared of wives, too,” said Daine.

“Not scared,” said Ariana with a smirk. She would have tossed her hair, but her nun’s habit covered that. The ‘slutty’ part of her outfit was mostly the slit up either side of the skirt, revealing fishnet stockings and high heels underneath, and the boob window in the front of her dress.

Eventually, Louisa came inside, mingling among the party guests until she finally caught sight of her fiancee’s currently-brown hair. She made a beeline to Lisa’s side, throwing an arm around her fiancee and snuggling up as close as she could to her side while still standing.

“There you are,” said Lisa, her arm going around Louisa’s waist. Louisa turned to face her, accepting the kiss that Lisa pressed to her lips.

“I was outside greeting guests,” said Louisa.

“Gee, that must’ve been tiring,” said Lisa. “For you, I mean.”

“Yeah, it was,” said Louisa. But she smiled as she glanced around again, seeing all of the smiling faces and chatting friends. The only non-smiling face belonged to the man currently sitting on the couch, sulking as Roo and Linda made out on the couch beside him. Louisa wondered how much alcohol Roo had drunk tonight, hoping that it wasn’t too much. She hated having to deal with hungover friends, the pain was bad enough.

“You should go sit down,” said Lisa, nodding in the direction of Louisa’s large grey couch. “Come on.”

“Well, you’re the healer,” said Louisa, laughing at the old joke as she followed her fiancee over to the couch.

“Oh great, more lesbians,” said Daine with an annoyed huff as Louisa sat down beside him.

“Fucking excuse you, I am bisexual,” said Roo. Daine rolled his eyes. Louisa tried to ignore the feeling of Daine’s arm pressed up against hers, insteading focusing on how Lisa’s currently-brown eyes gleamed as she sat down in Louisa’s lap facing her.

“I wish Ydris was here,” Daine muttered, folding his arms across his chest as the sound of kissing reached his ears.

“Hey, Alex isn’t here but you don’t see me complaining,” said Willow, who was standing holding Roo’s drink for her. Roo had probably given it to her so that Willow wouldn’t be able to sneak off and grab another chocolate spider or peanut butter cookie.

“That’s because you know she’s coming later,” said Daine. “I don’t know when my boyfriend will get here. If he’s even coming at all.”

“What would he come as, anyway?” Louisa asked, managing to tear herself away from Lisa for a moment to speak. “Beetlejuice?” In her stable, a pony’s brown-spotted ears quivered.

“I dunno,” said Daine, shrugging.

“A furry,” said Willow. Daine gave her the filthiest look that he could muster.

“No,” said Daine. “Not a furry. He’d come as-“

A knock at the door cut him off.

“Huh, maybe this is Alex,” said Louisa.

“I’ll get it,” said Willow. Roo stood from Linda’s lap, taking her cup of drink from Willow and taking a long swig of it before tossing it to the ground and settling herself back into Linda’s lap. Both girls looked thoroughly ravished, cheeks and eyes glowing as their lips were swollen and clothing in disarray. Roo had lost her pirate hat long ago, though Linda still wore the grey wolf ears.

“I do have bins around,” Louisa muttered under her breath.

Willow opened the front door and immediately wanted to close it again when she saw who stood there.

“Oh, it’s you,” said Willow. In front of her stood Ydris, clad in a black suit now with longer coattails and a red shirt underneath. His gloves were still pure white though, and white powder dusted his face. His eyes had been lined with black eyeliner, his lips painted red. Fangs poked out over his lower lip, completing the vampire look. Willow sighed and turned to call out to Daine, but her friend was already there. Her cat did that sometimes, but it was significantly more frightening when it was your tall, muscular friend dressed as a vampire.

“You came,” said Daine, his orange eyes shining and his voice softer than usual. It was barely audible over the noise of the party.

“Of course I did,” said Ydris, his hand stroking over Daine’s hair. “It is not truly a party when one is without their love.”

“Sap,” said Daine, even though he agreed with what his boyfriend was saying. “Great costume, by the way, who’d you steal that idea from?”

“A certain… phoenix gave me a most excellent idea,” said Ydris. “You are not the only one with fangs, you know.”

Daine was silent for so long that Ydris feared for a moment that he’d broken him. But, when Daine did speak, it was only to say the words that Ydris most wanted to hear.

“We have to leave right now immediately,” said Daine, grabbing Ydris’ hand and tugging him outside. He needed to get home before he actually burst into flames. It would not be the first time that that had happened, either.

Willow watched the pair leave and shrugged, closing the door before she crossed the room to take Daine’s seat on the couch. She didn’t mind being between the two kissing couples, after all, she knew that she’d look just like them when Alex finally got here. She checked her phone again, seeing that it was almost seven. It would be dinnertime, usually, but this was a party- dinner was stuff yourself full of candy and other baked goods. Speaking of…

“Who was that?” Louisa asked, stopping Willow in her tracks as she made to stand from the couch.

“Ydris,” said Willow. “Him and Daine went to get a room. In their house, thank god.”

“Oh, good,” said Louisa. “Hopefully I don’t need to tell anyone that my bedroom and bathroom and really any room are off limits for sex?”

“Loud and clear,” said Roo, giving Louisa a nod. “The other hoe is a bit busy right now, and I don’t think she’s up to that stage with Rania yet.” Louisa looked and, sure enough, there was Ariana, sitting on another couch in the living room beside Rania, who was happily chattering away about the events that had unfolded earlier as well as previous Halloween parties that she’d been to. Louisa had never seen someone look so smitten. But, she guessed, she’d looked the same with Lisa. Probably still looked the same with Lisa, honestly.

"What did Ydris come as?" Louisa asked, tearing her eyes away from the cute couple.

"A vampire," said Willow. "Wonder who he stole that idea from."

"Huh, I thought he'd come as Beetlejuice with those long legs of his," said Louisa. A short distance away, in Louisa's stable, a pinto Chincoteague Pony gave an excited whinny as he vanished. Showtime.

"Nope, vampire," said Willow. Her phone buzzed and her eyes lit up, a bright grin lighting up her face. "Alex just left!"

"Finally," said Lisa with a roll of her eyes. "The rest of us are all here, what took her so long? My costume took the most work, even."

"It's so wonderful to see you in cosplay," said Linda, grinning at her friend. "I don't think I ever said that before."

"You didn't," said Lisa. "But thanks! And maybe I should cosplay more often, given my fiancee’s reaction." She grinned at Louisa.

"Ask Eden if you can borrow her outfit," Louisa muttered, her cheeks red. Lisa chuckled and kissed her again.

Half an hour later, Louisa finally pulled herself away from her fiancee, glad that she didn't have the parts to make walking after making out awkward. She cleared her throat, hoping that it would silence the room. It did not, though, and there wasn't a glass that she could tap.

"Here," said Lisa, sticking two fingers into her mouth. She whistled loudly, making Louisa cringe. But it got everyone's attention, everyone turning to stare at Louisa as Lisa used the remote control to turn down the music volume.

"So I was thinking that since we're mostly all here and Alex is on her way," said Louisa, straightening her jacket, "let's start the first event. Is that how you say it?" She looked to Willow, who had organised at least one event in the past. Willow shrugged, so Louisa looked to Eden, who had once organised a RWBY event before Louisa had gotten into that show.

"Yep, or activity works too," said Eden, giving her a thumbs-up.

"Right, activity, then," said Louisa, a little embarrassed at her slip-up. Off to a great start already, it seemed. "Vik, Willow and I bought some pumpkins earlier. A lot of pumpkins. So let's carve the leftovers." She grinned, heat crawling through her at the fact that all eyes were on her.

"Sounds like a great idea," said Roo, standing from Linda's lap and readjusting her pirate costume. Linda only had to smooth down her 'fur' and straighten her hair as she stood too.

"I've put them all on tables out the back," said Louisa, grinning as excitement began to grow in her belly again. "And don't worry, we'll hear the doorbell if it rings." Everyone so far had knocked, but she did have a doorbell that played a ghoulish laugh. She'd just need to set it loud enough to be able to hear out the back, which she did, using an app on her phone. "Wait, that wasn't confusing, was it?"

"You're good," said Lisa, giving her a smile. Louisa gave a sigh of relief as she led the way outside, passing through the hallway that ran through her house until she reached the back screen door. She pushed it open, stepping out into the backyard that she and Vik had decorated earlier with pumpkins, garlands, and torches. The torches flickered, flames dancing in the breeze and casting orange light. There was also an upright gas heater to provide warmth in the somewhat-chilly air. Lisa immediately huddled close to it, no doubt wishing for a jacket. Louisa considered giving Lisa her jacket but then reconsidered, realising that then she'd be cold.

"Alright, now, choose a pumpkin," said Louisa, gesturing at all of the large carving pumpkins that littered the tables. "If you need a jacket because your costume is too revealing, Lisa, you can borrow one from my wardrobe. I'll take you in to grab one."

"I'm good," said Ariana, the most-clothed one there. Rania nodded, sitting close enough to Ariana at their table that their knees touched.

"My costume keeps me warm," said Rania. Louisa wondered how Rania would manage to carve a pumpkin without being able to see, but she decided that asking would be rude. Rania probably knew a way, she was smart like that.

"It looks like it does," said Linda. "Then again, werewolf and warrior cat are significantly different."

"Maybe I should've come as a warrior cat instead of an angel," said Vik, standing close to Louisa as he shivered. His feathers were fluffing up slightly against the cold, and there was no way that he could explain that away as 'just part of his costume'.

"Well, you have the ears, and the collar if you wanted to come as a kittypet," said Louisa as she turned and walked inside with Viktor. She lowered her voice once they were inside, though. "You holding up okay with the wings?"

"People keep touching them and marvelling over how real they are," said Viktor. "This was a huge mistake. If I came as a kittypet, I wouldn't be able to handle it."

"Could've come as an angel cat," said Louisa, smirking at him. At least she wasn't the only flustered one here.

"God, no," said Viktor, recoiling. "That'd actually kill me." Louisa laughed.

"I was joking," said Louisa. She unlocked her bedroom door, switching on the light as she walked in with Viktor. "Do you need some thick pants or something?"

"Yes please," said Viktor. "Willow might need some too, she mentioned it to me when we were outside. She's worried about her scars glowing since it's so dark and we're on South Hoof."

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense," said Louisa, nodding as she rummaged through her chest of drawers. She pulled out a pair of white tracksuit pants. "Think these'll fit?"

"Yeah," said Vik, measuring the pants against his legs. "I'll just get changed."

"What are you wearing under that toga, booty shorts?" Louisa asked, laughing as Vik walked over to the door of her ensuite bathroom.

"Basically," said Vik with a roll of his eyes. While her friend got changed, Louisa texted Willow, asking if she'd like a pair of thick pants as well. Minutes later, Willow walked through Louisa's bedroom door, closing it behind her.

"Vik's just getting changed in the bathroom," said Louisa. "So do you wanna wait for him or...?"

"No need," said Willow, kicking her simple white shoes off (she didn't want to wear heels and boots didn't match the outfit). She reached into the open 'pants drawer' and pulled out a pair of black leggings. They were thick winter ones that Louisa usually wore around New Year's.

To her relief, when Willow pulled the leggings on, her thigh scars didn't glow through them.

"That's better," said Willow, nodding. "I’d love a jacket but I wonder if it'd be bad to break my costume."

"You can always take the jacket off for photos if you need one," said Louisa. "I'm actually going to suggest that to Lisa because my fiancee is freezing her ass off and she's too stubborn to change."

"She just likes making you blush," said Willow. "Trust me, my girlfriend does exactly the same thing."

"Well, I wouldn't know what that's like," said Vik as he walked out of the bathroom. He didn't look much different, he only had white pants on now. It actually worked with his costume.

"You look great, Vik," said Louisa. "And sorry for talking about relationships around you."

"Hey, it's fine," said Vik, shrugging. His wings moved, unfurling slightly before he realised and fixed them up, holding them in position again. They still looked ruffled, too, thanks to how flustered he was. "I'm not the only single one here. Maybe I'll go home with someone, who knows?" But he didn't sound hopeful. Nor did he sound annoyed by it, though.

"Let's get back to the party," said Louisa. "I just need one thing." She grabbed Lisa's jacket from her wardrobe before she left, holding the warm blue fabric in her arms.

The three of them, feeling much warmer now, stepped back out into the backyard. A few people had already begun carving their pumpkins, Ariana fumbling with the slippery knife as she tried to create a regular jack-o-lantern. Beside her, Rania was carefully carving out a wolf's head, scraping away the pumpkin rind until it was thin enough to allow light through. Lisa stood by the tables, shivering as she administered healing to those who needed it (mostly Ariana).

"Wear this, you fool," said Louisa, draping Lisa's jacket over her fiancee's shoulders.

"But the fluster," said Lisa, her teeth chattering. "And my c-c-costume."

"I would prefer an out-of-costume fiancee to a frozen one," said Louisa, gently grabbing Lisa's arm and sliding it into the arm of her jacket.

"Fine," Lisa huffed, pulling the jacket on. She readjusted her wig over it, making sure that it still looked okay. "Happy?"

"Very," said Louisa, giving her fiancee a quick kiss.

"This wasn't a competition, was it?" Linda asked. "Timed or anything, I mean."

"No, it's not timed, don't worry," said Louisa. "Just go for your life."

"Sweet," said Roo, who sat next to Linda on the bench seats that had been set up at the tables. She was carving out a skull and crossbones on her pumpkin, while Linda was making a simple crescent moon with some stars around it. While the moon was cut out, though, the stars were carved out the same way that Rania was carving out the wolf on her pumpkin.

At another table, Jay sat next to Izzy, creating a cat head design on his pumpkin. Izzy, meanwhile, was creating the silhouette of a running horse.

"What are you going to carve?" Lisa asked as Louisa took a seat at one of the tables in front of a pumpkin.

"I actually don't know yet," said Louisa. Vik sat down on one side of her, Willow on the other side.

"Stars," said Viktor. Lisa snorted, sitting down opposite her fiancee.

"I'm just cheesy enough to do that, don't tempt me," said Louisa. She picked up her knife, about to start carving, but just at that moment, the sound of a ghoulish laugh rang out from the house. Louisa dropped the knife with a clatter, clutching her chest.

"Christ," Louisa swore, her heart racing beneath her palm.

"It scared me too," said Viktor, his feathers only just settling down.

"I think you turned the volume up a little too high!" Eden called.

"Yeah, I think so too," said Louisa, still shaking slightly as she stood from the table. "But I think I know who that is."

"Alex," said Willow, grinning as she stood too. Somehow, the spooky noise hadn't affected her. That was concerning.

"I'll come too," said Ariana, quickly standing from her spot next to Rania. Louisa had never seen Ariana's face so red.

The three of them walked through the house, Louisa becoming aware of slight pains in her neck. She knew who it was, just from that.

"Not Alex," said Louisa to Willow. "But our other friend." She pulled the front door open, trying to ignore the pain of bites that weren't actually on her body. It became somewhat easier when she saw Daine, standing there in a tavern maid's outfit that showed off his legs, arms, and shoulders too much. Louisa tore her eyes away. His hair looked very nice, too, still-wet curls hanging down around his shoulders.

"I'm back," said Daine, grinning. He'd put away his fangs now, no longer fitting his costume. Ydris still had his fangs out, though, as he stood holding his boyfriend's hand.

"Unfortunately," said Willow. "What happened to your old costume?"

"I had to change," said Daine. "I couldn't come dressed as my boyfriend."

"Yeah, I'm sure you did," said Willow drily. "And I'm sure that you also needed to shower."

"Looks like someone got some," said Ariana, winking as she nudged Louisa in the side. Louisa blushed. "Nice legs."

"I had to show off," said Daine, shrugging as he extended his leg. He posed. "Do I look good?"

"Very," said Ariana while Louisa muttered the same thing.

"Just come inside, you idiot," said Willow, moving out of the way so that Daine and Ydris could come inside. They closed the door behind them, Louisa trying hard not to look at Daine for too long. She tried to think of her fiancee in that stealth suit, which did help a little.

"I will go and get a drink," said Ydris. "I have worked up quite the thirst."

"I did not need to know that," said Willow, glaring at the magician. Ydris winked.

"Jealous, flighty dove?" Ydris asked.

"Not in the slightest," said Willow.

"Unlike emu," said Ydris, turning his grin on Louisa. Louisa blushed, backing away from Ydris.

“All of my attractive friends just had to dress slutty tonight, didn’t they?” said Louisa as Ydris strutted past.

“Heh, good thing I didn’t choose a different outfit, then,” said Ariana. “Then you would’ve really been sweating.”

“You’re not wrong,” Louisa muttered. “I just hope Alex isn’t dressed sexy.”

“You’ll soon find out,” said Willow, grinning as she glanced out of the window to see a palomino pony arriving in the distance. Louisa looked too and caught a glimpse of purple. What had Alex come as?

The answer came seconds later. The sound of footsteps leading up Louisa’s front path could be heard. Daine posed in front of the door, pouting and holding the edges of his skirt out while Ariana snapped some photos of him. One moment, Daine was standing there, leg outstretched. The next, he was on the floor as the door was kicked open by a purple-clad leg.

“It’s WAH-luigi!” Alex declared. Her dirty blonde hair was bundled up under her purple cap, going with the rest of her purple Waluigi outfit. She even had curly-toed black boots. But she was currently staring down at Daine, who had his leg in the air while he lay on the ground. “Oopsie.”

At first, Louisa thought that Willow was crying. But, when she looked at her friend, ignoring Daine’s pain in the back of her head, she saw that Willow was doubled over in laughter, laughing so hard that she was barely making any noise. Ariana looked at her too. At first, Ariana began to snicker. And then she let out a giggle that quickly turned into a laugh.

“Uh, what’s going on?” Alex asked, staring in confusion from her friend to Ariana.

“Help me,” Daine wheezed from his spot on the floor. That set Ariana and Willow off into another round of giggles while the other two girls looked on in bemusement.

“Are you alright?” Louisa asked, grabbing Daine’s hand and hauling him to his feet. Daine rubbed the back of his head, Louisa placing her hand there to heal the minor bruise that was forming.

“Better than those crazy bitches,” said Daine, giving Willow a confused look as his friend clutched her stomach with laughter, tears streaming down her cheeks and cutting through her foundation.

“They look happy,” said Louisa.

“Yeah, at my expense,” said Daine.

“Hey, I haven’t seen her laugh so hard since April Fools when I put custard in James’ hat, leave her alone,” said Alex. Daine rolled his eyes as he headed into the house.

“Everyone’s out the back!” Louisa called after him. “We’re carving pumpkins!”

“Gonna carve a dick into mine,” Daine muttered. But he sniffed the air, then made a detour to the kitchen. He emerged munching on one cookie and holding a handful of other cookies. Louisa could also see at least one cookie poking out of the apron pocket of his slutty tavern maid’s costume.

“I hope he saved some for the rest of us,” said Louisa.

Eventually, Willow and Ariana calmed down, gut laughter dying down to wheezing and the occasional giggle.

“Oh man, that’s a good ab workout,” said Ariana, wiping away a tear.

“The best,” said Willow, giggling. “I need to fix my makeup now I think.”

“I dunno, it kind of gives you the cracked face look,” said Louisa.

“Really?” Willow asked.

“Yeah, and the running eye makeup makes you look like you’ve been crying,” said Louisa. “Which I guess you have but it just looks creepy, okay?”

“I believe you but I need to know what I look like,” said Willow, heading for the bathroom. She knocked on the door and then, when nobody answered, walked in and looked at her reflection in the mirror. The fluorescent bathroom light already made her look ghastly, but Louisa had been right about the tear tracks- they did look like cracks, especially with the dark streaks from her eye makeup.

“See?” said Louisa, standing behind her friend. She touched her hand to her face, embarrassed at how flushed her face was. “Yikes, I am flustered.”

“I honestly just thought it was part of your costume,” said Ariana. “You’ve been blushing all night, girl.”

“Well, between Lisa and Zeal and Daine…” said Louisa.

“Lisa’s gonna get lucky tonight,” Ariana crowed, nudging Louisa in the side. Willow frowned and grabbed Louisa’s toothbrush from the cup beside the sink, spinning around to face Ariana with the toothbrush held like some kind of weapon.

“I can make it look like an accident,” Willow hissed, narrowing her eyes at Ariana.

“Yeah, you’re really scaring me with a toothbrush,” said Ariana drily. “Now, if you had a tree handy, you could smack me with a branch.”

“Or I could just throw a water balloon in your mouth,” said Willow. That set off Willow and Ariana again, the two of them laughing so much that the toothbrush clattered back into the cup as Willow dropped it.

“I’ll be out the back when you two contain yourselves,” said Louisa, walking past them. She also paid a wuick visit to the kitchen before heading outside, though, pouring herself a glass of water. She met Viktor in there.

“Is your face redder?” Viktor asked when he saw her.

“Daine,” said Louisa with a roll of her eyes.

“Ah,” said Viktor, nodding. “Say no more.”

“I just need a glass of water,” said Louisa. “Then I should be right to rejoin the party.”

“Thirsty,” said Viktor. Louisa rolled her eyes as she swallowed a few mouthfuls of water, surprised at just how thirsty she was. She poured herself another glass too.

“What about you?” Louisa asked. “Your face is pretty dark too.”

“Yeah, you noticed,” said Viktor. “Uh… yeah, having my wings out might’ve been a mistake. I’m glad this tunic is baggy.”

“And I’m glad that nobody can see anything other than my blush,” said Louisa. Viktor looked uncomfortable for a moment but then nodded, accepting her retaliation.

After rehydrating and calming down a little, the two friends rejoined the party, heading out into the darkened backyard. Daine was sitting snuggled up next to Ydris, of course, while Ydris waved his fingers over his pumpkin.

“No cheating with magic,” said Willow, levitating a small rock into the air and tossing it at Ydris.

“I wonder, flighty dove, what you just used, then,” said Ydris.

“I’m not using it to make my pumpkin bigger,” said Willow.

“Overcompensating much?” Ariana teased. She got a pebble bouncing off her chest too, Rania giggling as the pebble clattered to the table.

“I will ask Roo to bring the ocean down on you,” said Willow.

“I’ll do it, too,” said Roo. “It’ll be funny.”

“Please don’t,” said Louisa. “At least, not while I’m here. Not at the party.”

“Fine,” said Willow.

Somehow, the group of them managed to finish carving their pumpkins without any drama worse than a few nicked fingers (quickly felt and healed by Louisa and Lisa). Ydris’ pumpkin was larger than anyone else’s, and Daine did light the candle inside of his with his magic (Ydris’ jack o lantern also glowed with purple flame), but for the most part, everyone’s jack o lantern looked very good. Even if it had taken Lisa and Louisa a while to finish theirs between all the healing, but Louisa thought that her cat face’d jack-o-lantern looked pretty good. Maybe not as good as Rania’s wolf one, though, or the stars and moons on Linda’s. Even Viktor had carved a cute little jack-o-lantern with freckles on its ‘cheeks’.

“Good thing this wasn’t a competition,” said Louisa.

“It looks okay,” said Viktor.

“It doesn’t but thanks,” said Louisa, smiling at her friend.

“What’s next on the agenda, o great host?” Jay asked. Louisa thought that he looked a little tipsy.

“Bobbing for apples,” said Louisa.

“Ew,” said Willow, frowning in disgust at the very idea.

“Yeah, that is kinda gross,” said Viktor.

“And unsanitary,” said Alonso.

“Alright then, the horses can do it,” said Louisa. “I’m sure they’ll love it.”

The group of them walked over to the paddock where Louisa had the horses for the evening, and Louisa was glad to see that all of the horses were giving Phantom his space. Lion looked a little frightened of him, but Louisa didn’t judge and she hoped that Viktor wouldn’t feel too bad. Lion was just a scaredy-cat, that was all.

“Come on, Lion, we’re going bobbing for apples,” said Ariana, grabbing the leadrope from where it hung on the wooden fence and opening the gate. She walked over to Lion, clipping the leadrope onto his halter. Lion flicked his ears back, giving Ariana a distrustful look as he neighed something to her. Ariana looked over at Phantom, then shook her head, frowning at her soul stood. Lion snorted and allowed Ariana to lead him over to where Louisa had set up the two apple bobbing stations earlier, half-barrels with apples floating around in the water.

“Which one’s for humans?” Daine asked, staring at both of them.

“Damn it, I knew I forgot to do something,” said Louisa.

As Lion stepped closer to one barrel, lowering his head, there was a ripple in the water. The second Lion’s nose touched the water, a pony head burst up out of the water with a shrill neigh. In the ensuing chaos, Lion reared up onto his hind legs, Daine tripped in his heels and landed ass-first in the other barrel, a few people screamed, Vik’s wings flared (thankfully unnoticed by all but Louisa), and Jay dropped his bottle of Pandorian ambrosia that he’d been drinking all night.

The pony in the apple bobbing gave a nicker as he stepped out, dripping with water. Louisa immediately recognised the pinto.

“You!” said Louisa, pointing at Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice looked very proud of himself, and if ponies could smirk, Louisa would have bet anything that he was smirking.

“Is he any relation to Trouble?” Willow asked as Beetlejuice trotted off with his head and tail held high.

“Thankfully, no,” said Louisa. “One pony with magical teleporting abilities if you say his name three times is enough, thanks.”

“Hmm, perhaps I should see about including that in my show,” said Ydris, rubbing his thumb over his chin.

“It’s fine, I can get out of here myself,” said Daine, and somehow managed to get out of the barrel. Louisa tried not to stare at the way that Daine’s clothing clung to his body, but Ydris wasn’t afraid to stare. Daine stared down into the barrel, watching the apples bob around. There was hay in the water.

“You’re not seriously going to-“ said Willow. Daine stood up straight, then bent down and thrust his head into the barrel, trying to grab an apple. He emerged with hay stuck in his hair, his dripping hair plastered to his forehead. He frowned.

“What, did you lose your garter in there or something?” Ariana asked.

“I need an apple,” said Daine, glaring.

“I have never seen you eat a fruit in my life,” said Willow.

“They taunt me,” said Daine. Louisa had only seen this look in his eyes once before, when Daine had drunk an entire bottle of Pandorian wine and started making eyes at fire hydrants.

Daine got down on his knees, hitching his skirts up, and plunged his head back in. Ariana, Roo, and Willow walked around behind him. On some hidden signal, all three of them put their hands to Daine’s shoulders and shoved his head in, Ariana holding his head down under the water.

Immediately, Daine flailed, steam rising from the water as he screamed and thrashed his arms about. He managed to knock Ariana back and pulled his head out of the water, sucking in air. He turned around to glare at them, growling. But Ariana took one look at the apple in his mouth, caught in his sharp teeth, and lost it, howling with laughter. Willow glanced at Daine, saw what he looked like, and joined in.

“I’m glad you think it’s funny,” said Daine, taking the apple out of his mouth. He bit into it, munching.

“It looked just like-“ Ariana began.

“His face!” said Willow, cackling. 

Ariana ended up on her hands and knees, gasping with laughter as tears rolled down her cheeks. With her trembling arms, she couldn’t get up.

“You’re probably used to that position,” said Daine. Ariana glared at him and poked her tongue into her cheek, making a motion with her hand that made Daine blush and turn away.

“Do you need this?” Rania teased, holding her cane out to Ariana. Ariana was still shaking with silent laughter, and the end of the cane fell out of her hands a few times before she finally managed to grip it.

“What’s so funny?” Alonso asked.

“Maybe I should tell it,” said Ali. “I was there and I have a bit better control of my laughter.”

“Good plan,” said Willow, who was currently being held up by Alex.

“Let’s move inside,” said Louisa. “It’s a bit cold out here.”

“You’re not the one dripping wet,” said Daine, shivering. Ydris waved his hand and a blanket appeared wrapped around his boyfriend’s shoulders. Daine leaned into him.

Inside, the group sat around the living room, eating what cookies were left. Willow scarfed down peanut butter cookies when Alex wasn’t looking, hiding them among the pumpkin cookies. Ariana borrowed a marker to touch up the whiskers on Rania’s face, which had become smudged during the night. The couples all sat together, too, though Viktor sat close to his best friend with Willow and Alex on the other side of him.

“So what happened was, Skoll didn’t decorate his house for Halloween,” said Ali.

“What an asshole,” Ariana butted in, to resounding cheers of agreement from the group (except for Alonso, who looked uncomfortable).

“And so the residents of Dundull, headed by Sigry, decided to egg his house,” said Ali. “There may have been rocks and water balloons and rotten fruit involved as well.”

“We got him so good,” said Willow, cackling.

“Right in his face with an egg and then a water balloon,” said Rania, grinning. “That was me both times, by the way.”

“She’s got such good aim,” said Ariana.

“No, I just had a really good helper,” said Rania. Louisa cooed at the sappy expression that momentarily softened Ariana’s face.

And then, the group fell into laughter as Ali, Rania, Ariana and Willow regaled the group with stories about what had happened at Skoll’s, and also what had happened with Daine and the door.

“I opened the door and he was just down,” said Alex, grinning as Willow cried with laughter.

“It wasn’t funny,” said Daine, folding his arms across his chest.

“Well, your head was rather tender after all of that banging it did against walls,” said Ydris. Several cookies flew in his direction, which Daine gathered to him with a grin.

“Neat, free food,” said Daine, biting into a cookie.

“Unbelievable,” said Willow with a roll of her eyes.

“Oh, I even have the video of it on my phone,” said Ariana, bringing the video up. Even Rania laughed at the sound of it, though Daine remained where he was, pouting.

The group settled down after that, sharing laughter and funny or spooky stories. But not too spooky, because they’d seen enough truly scary things to last them a lifetime. And, by the end of the night, Louisa felt like she could safely say that her very first group event had been a success. Even if she did just feel like crawling into bed and sleeping for a week.


End file.
